Learning is a vital part of our ethos and vision and we would like to respond to our members needs and requirements. Initially the Dayan has established a programme offering weekly sessions for both men and women but please do let us know if you would like any additional learning sessions and we will do our best to find you a suitable chavruta.
Shiurim & Adult Education
THOUGHTS ON VAERA BY RABBI WILKINSON
This is Aharon and Moshe, to whom Hashem said, “Take the children of lsrael out of Egypt according to their tribes” (Shemot 6:26).
Aharon was the elder brother. Moshe was the most prominent. If you ask people ‘Who led the Israelites out of Egypt?’ the answer would be ‘Moshe’. Yet in this passuk, and elsewhere we find not only that both brothers are mentioned but that sometimes Aharon is named first. Why?
Rashi answers by citing a Midrash commenting that sometimes Moshe’s name precedes Aharon’s, and sometimes Aharon’s name appears first. This teaches that they were equal.
What does it mean that Moshe and Aharon were equal? The Torah clearly says that Moshe was the humblest man upon the face of the earth. It also says that no prophet ever arose among Am Yisrael like Moshe. How is it possible to say that Aharon was Moshe’s equal?
Rav Moshe Feinstein ztl explains that every person is given certain capabilities, some more, and some less. Each person’s life mission is to use the unique qualities and characteristics with which he was gifted to their maximum. The person with greater capability must accomplish more than the person with less competence.
In Heaven, one is judged by how much potential was actualised and not by what was accomplished. A person with greater potential who has used forty percent of his potential is viewed less positively than a person with a lower potential who has used seventy percent of his capabilities. Even though the latter may have achieved “less” in the view of others.
Moshe may have been given greater capabilities than Aharon, but Moshe and Aharon both fulfilled their potential to the best of their ability. As such, in Heaven, they were both viewed as equals, and the Torah considers them to be equals.
Perhaps this can be explained a little differently. At the end of Parshas Massei, the Torah lists the daughters of Tzelaphchad in a different order than in Parshas Pinchas, where Rashi says that the Torah is telling us that the daughters were all equal to one another. Gur Aryeh explains that they each had different qualities, and while one was more proficient in one area, the others excelled in other areas. When considering the daughters collectively as a single unit, they were considered equally important.
The same can be said about Moshe and Aharon. Moshe reached a higher level of prophecy, Torah knowledge, and humility. Aharon excelled in his own areas of expertise. He was known as a lover of people and the pursuer of peace. Aharon seems to have been more beloved by the people, which is why, when he died, he was mourned by “every household of Israel.” Moshe and Aharon complemented each other perfectly, and together, they presented a picture of perfection.
That may be the meaning of Rashi when he says that they were equal, as one. Individually, each had their own distinctive qualities, but together they were equal, as one, essential to one another.
Shabbat shalom and chodesh tov
Learning Opportunities